C0d3d
by Emina Irah
Summary: Hints: gangs, guns, cars, girls, boys, tattoos, codes, alcohol, sex, friends, lovers, foes, cops, school, jobs... The list may go on and on, the encrypted message won't change, though: Dangerous mess for a life. That's what they hide rating might change
1. It's Pretty Simple

**Disclaimer I don't own Card Captor Sakura. It applies to all chapters.**

"**C0d3d"**

**~O~**

They, as in the Werewolves –a gang, kidnapped her for they believed she was working for or with one of their rivals.

She, as in Kinomoto Sakura –the kidnapped, hacked into their system, a few days before being abducted, believing it was just a game.

They torture her in order to get information: what she was looking for, what she took, and or anything that she new concerning the Blood Suckers –a rival gang...

She is suspected to be part of this Blood Suckers –their all-times nemesis and only ones that could attempt a stunt of the likes, other gangs don't dare or don't have the means to do it.

Other than a tattoo of a weird set of bars with some symbols below, she isn't marked. She has not the standard tattoo of blood being sucked by a pair of piercing-veins daggers on her wrists. Nor the least common '_Blood Suckers_' carved by various daggers in a bath of blood on her back for leaders or on her shoulder that important ones tend to bear.

She is no leader, as in The Leader, for she does not bear _that_ tattoo a single dagger draining the blood at the hip, '_Surgeons de Sang'_ (1) inscribed horizontally in red blood on the dagger; engraved, almost burned, along the spine.

In spite of not having the physical proof, they treat her as one of them, a spy in the very least.

Yamamoto Jiro, an arctic wolf, is the one conducting the torture. The procedure is witnessed by the two second-in-command leaders, Daidouji Tomoyo and Li Syaoran, three black wolves –the highest position right after second-in-command– Li Meiling, Hiragizawa Eriol, and Sasaki Rika.

And every now and then, _The_ current Leader, no-last-name Yue, would make himself present, too.

It's procedure to have witnesses when trying to get information out of their captives, and recording it, too. Not the many that there are for the girl, though. Half of them would be the usual. But she got into their system, _their System -_with capital S and overly possessive pronoun. Something no one else had accomplished. It took them quite a while, too, to track her. And she is not spilling anything, either.

She was just having a normal day, the week previous to her kidnapping. She woke up late –like always- had breakfast, locked herself in her room, read, and got online. There was some more reading, more food, and went back online. There was what looked like to be an interesting game –among others; it proved to be interesting, too; but not that difficult. The Wolves Den, she called it. She went to sleep afterwards. It was a Saturday.

It wouldn't be until exactly 144 hours later that the outcome of such an ordinary day would catch up with her. She did play games on a daily basis in spite of her internet limitations. Her week wouldn't change either, for when they found her they went for her.

They didn't notice her right away. It was until she had _left_ that they realized the intrusion. Kozaburo Himuro (2), an arctic wolf and the resident 16-year-old genius of the gang, was the one to _detect_ her. He couldn't identify her, not immediately –that is– which was an accomplishment on its own.

Very little information was collected about the girl. They found an address, a picture, and could somehow place her as the intruder –because of the computer's server. But they didn't find her name or background; real information _about_ her. Not only had she done an almost perfect job at going in and out undetected, but it seemed as if she was being well taken care of. Very little could be tracked back to her.

In any case, it was with good reason. The girl was only 14-years-old and had been able to outsmart both, their Gadget Bitch –as they so kindly like to call her– and genius boy, by hacking into their database.

Their main computer was built from scratch by Yanagisawa Naoko, a black wolf and, well, their Gadget Bitch. It had a vast and very reliable –or maybe not– security system. She had worked with Kozaburo Himuro, the genius boy, and they'd come up with a new one, too.

Still, it hadn't been enough to keep the girl out. Others, yes, but not her.

**\o~O~o/**

**1. Surgeons de sang, it's supposed to be french. I don't know the language myself but I wanted something different for the leader. It's supposed to mean Blood Suckers. Sang I'm sure it means blood, but surgeons I'm not so sure -i found differents... Anywho, I think I'll leave it that way. (Hope no one minds)**

**2. Kozaburo Himuro is from Remote -a manga, he is a genius detective (older than here); but I will not be using him as a detective but just genius in the computer department or as a Hacker at least. **

**...**

**This is kind of a repost. There are no major alterations but I did fix some things I thought needed to be changed. Perhaps in the future I'll re-edit, add or take things out, but for the time being this will do. There might still be some errors, grammatical or not, and I apologize for them. I hope you like it.**

**Remember, English isn't my first language… mercy. Would you review? So I know if i should keep going...**

**I'll explain more in the next chapter's author's note about what's going on…**

**Loves…**


	2. Code Bar

**"C0d3d"**

**~O~**

**Sakura Kinomoto**

The dark is overwhelming. I come and go. It's better when I'm in the dark, although I hate it; it frightens me. The light means pain, now; it's frightening me, too.

Every time there is light, I'm asked questions. I've lost the count of how many they've been. One thing I'm sure of: whenever I answer "I don't know," which is often –if not always- I end up blacking out.

It's the harsh reality I'm being hit with. Literally, _Hit_ with.

It really sucks because there is a part of me that likes queries or anything in that department for that matter. Too, I hate not having answers. I like not having them at the moment and having to figure them out, though. But really, I don't have any idea what they are talking about.

So, knowing what that answer –one that I, myself, don't entirely like- does to me, I decide to try my luck with something else.

"What tattoo?"

Ow. He slapped me this time. It hurts, it stings, it burns, and then just joins the other pains.

He asks again, adding unnecessary words. I move, slowly, very slowly, my head back to staring at him. What tattoo is he talking about? I've never in my entire life gotten a tattoo.

I don't reach his onyx stare because suddenly, images come to me. It is like seeing pictures; someone putting them in front of me and switching them. One after the other, they come. It doesn't surprise me. I'm used to them. Instead, I try to understand: what I'm seeing, and why...

There is a big building, a bit worn off. I'm about three, if not younger. Mom is with me, so is brother. There is another man, tall, with black long hair, tanned skin... he is at a door. A room, it has a lot of drawings on the walls. I'm sitting on a chair. The man is beside me. Mom holds my hand. Brother is not around. We are leaving, brother is with us, and the man stays behind. I'm standing in front of a mirror, my back to it. There is a drawing on my lower back. Dad is there...

"The code bar?" Is that what he's talking about?

"What does it mean?"

My first reaction is to say, "I don't know."

Which is true. I've been trying to figure it out ever since I have memory; and I have a very good memory. I remember I asked about a billionth time to father, or brother. They never told me. Mother was no longer around to answer, so I couldn't ask her. The only thing I got was a smile, a tight smile.

Still, just like him, I want to know. _What does it mean? What does it mean? What does it mean?_ This time, unlike before, the answer hits me full force. No he hasn't slapped me. The answer has always been there, right in front of me.

"Kinomoto," it comes out meekly, "it means Kino-" _Kinomoto Princess. _How come I didn't realize it earlier. It's been there all along…

**...**

My eyes are heavy. Still, I try opening them, but I can't. There is something helping me breath, why? I roam in my memory trying to know what's going on. What happened, in the very least… nothing.

I cough. A hand takes something off my mouth; the thing that was helping me to breathe. I can breathe on my own. Once more, I try opening my eyes. This time I succeed.

It's dark.

"It's okay, honey." A man's voice, it sounds old. It's kind of soothing.

It's still dark, though.

"Light," Just one word, a five-letter word and it hurts... but it's not the only thing that hurts. There is more, much more pain. I close my eyes tightly, willing them to go away. They don't.

I catch a glimpse of light, like a reflection. Is it from the man in front of me? Maybe... I move my head towards it. It's bright, very bright, but small. It doesn't matter. It's light. I focus on it. I can't distinct anything, though. It's just blurry.

I close my eyes, again. This time, all the pains go away.

…

Where am I? I look around but don't recognize anything. There is a faint light in the room. There are people, too, and some noise. Don't recognize them either and can't make anything out...

"Sweetie, you still have to rest. Lay down." That voice...

I turn towards the man. It's easy to find him. He's close, pushing me back down on the bed. I can't see his features, though. I oblige and lay back. It hurts to move, anyway, why fight? You ought to know which battles to fight. This one is one of those that you shouldn't. There is more noise in the background, I try to make out what it is, but fail... My head hurts.

A hand touches my forehead. The man's hand, it's warm. He's blocking the light; that's why I can't see him.

"Hungry" I try the word. I'm very hungry. For some reason, I realize that I'm as hungry as I'm scared. I understand the former one, but the later? Why would I be scared? In any case I hope he didn't hear me. It did come out low -and it hurt, too- so he might have not heard anything.

The noise in the background becomes louder. It sounds artificial. I don't know. The man nudges me. Did he say something?

"Excuse me?"

"What's your name, Sweetheart?" Oh. What's my...

"Sakura-" geez it hurts, "-Kinomoto Sakura."

I try concentrating in the background noise, but fail, once more.

Normally, Dexter can pick out a voice in a crowd or recognize it. It may seem an exaggeration, but Dexter just can do so. Dexter is a part of my brain –no, Dexter is a brain on his own, I think- that does this weird thing to come up with answers or link unrelated things in disturbing ways, sometimes. Like store any kind of information that gets to my eyes, ears... and then slide them for me or give me details about things that in some way have something to do with something else.

Actually, there is Dexter, Dee Dee, and me up there. Dexter stores information. Dee Dee has multiple tasks; but most of the time she is the intermediary. I'm just lazy enough to receive the answers. Not true, I'm the one to absorb the information; Dexter and Dee Dee work their magic however they want. Sometimes, the process changes, but normally, it works that way.

The only times when Dexter and Dee Dee fail me is when I'm too weak, exhausted, or we just plainly don't know. Extreme circumstances may be of help to get answers faster, or information out of the brain -like working against the clock, but we have to actually _know _the information or be receiving it. I'm a good and fast learner, so that's not quite an issue.

That I can't pick or make out my surroundings is quite a happening, or more like a problem.

Breathing in and out, I start working my brain to remember what happened. It's a slow process, but effective. It always is.

Images flicker in front of my closed eyes.

There is a chair, a wooden chair. A squared room, it's lit by fluorescent light. Pain; I remember pain, but how? There is a man. No, more than one. Two men and three women… There is another one, but I'm not sure… The man directly in front of me, onyx, he has onyx eyes. Oh, and a gun.

I immediately register where the pain in my body is coming from: my stomach –I'm hungry- but is not just that… it actually burns, my inner tights, too, my right forearm… and my shoulder, my left shoulder; that one hurts like hell.

All of a sudden, I'm hit by an onslaught of images, and not just that, voices too. Being snatched in my room. Waking up in a small barely lit room. The questions. My answers. The yelling and swears. The deafening sound of gun shots. The slap. Feeling scared. Fear. That's something that was there all along. And it's coming back…

It's no longer the retelling of what happened in a soft, condescending way. Not at all.

It's what happened in the past, what, thirty hours? I'm not so sure. But I'm well aware that it hasn't been too long.

I jolt upright, in a fear-drive. My body screams obscenities at my rash movements. I ignore them.

"What are you doing? Lay down." The same man from before puts his hands on my shoulders, and presses lightly on me.

"No." I fight against his hold. As I do so, he presses on with more force.

"Turn the lights on."

I momentarily forget my struggle, and look around. It's not the brightest light, but I can see now. There are other people in the room; about five or seven, all older-looking then me. They stare at me as if I were some kind of experiment. I pay no real heed to them. I'm in what it looks like a hospital room. Somehow, it feels cozier. My gaze stops at the light switch.

There, at the light switch, onyxes stare back at me. The man. He looks just as tall as I remember; from my last thirty hours memory. The man that was holding the gun; the one who asked a bunch of questions –that now that I look back to it, they were all the same or related.

A very familiar feeling takes over me. Panic.

My breathing quickens, and much to my dismay, I tremble.

I hate myself for it.

I try hard to keep it in check. I can handle it. I know I can.

But I can't. It all starts getting blurry once more, I can't focus again. _Darn_.

**\o~O~o/**

**A re-post; there are a few changes. Mostly, it's grammar, nothing big, nothing concerning the plot. I tried to fix whatever mistake that there was and I tried to make it more understanding. While I was doing just that –trying to make it more understanding- I realized that I couldn't change much of this chapter because it is Sakura's point of view and she isn't in her best conditions. That's why this chapter will stay the way it originally was. **

**Anyway, hope you enjoy it…**

**Loves…**


	3. Kinomoto

**"C0d3d"**

**~O~**

**Syaoran Li**

It's been less than twenty-four hours.

"What were you looking for?"

She's been through more pain than others.

"I don't know-" There goes another bullet burn.

She doesn't scream, cry, or make any noise, for that matter. She just cringes, blacks out for a few minutes, and comes back for more. Those two are the only signs that she is aware of the damage being inflicted on her.

"Let me try something different. What did you fucking give them?"

Jiro has already asked that. More than once, actually. It's been drilled into her the same questions for the past eighteen, twenty hours. Yet nothing other than:_ "I don't know,"_ has come out of her. This time is no different.

They've gotten a fine member this time, alright. Not only did the little bitch hack into our system, and actually succeeded at it, but, too, she isn't saying anything. And Jiro has caused enough injuries to at least start getting some answers. More injuries than the average Blood Sucker endures, and in less time.

Although, the time has nothing to do with us. We normally allow them to stay unconscious as long as their bodies need, sometimes even to pretend they are unconscious. Yeah, they might last longer, but we get our answers with less effort.

But _she_, the little bitch doesn't stay unconscious for long. She keeps on coming back for more. It barely gives us time to nurse her injuries so she can last longer; nothing for the pain, though.

See, she is coming back in to. Only ten minutes out.

"What does your tattoo mean?"

A while ago, we found this strange tattoo on her while nursing her shoulder, the only bullet that has gone through her body –touched no vital points, of course.

It was Eriol who saw it.

We'd inspected her earlier but found nothing. Nothing that we were looking for on the obvious parts that they should have been.

Eriol was holding her while the chair was being changed. It had been hit by one of the bullets –leave it to Jiro to vitally damage a chair and not the girl. Rika had taken her shirt off, leaving the little bitch in a tale bra, only.

"A cup," Tomoyo noted, and Rika agreed.

It was then, while still holding her –how? Away from his body? I don't care that much to find out- that Eriol saw the tattoo.

The rectangle-like tattoo about two to three inches long and half-an-inch-height lines, with spaces between them. Some are thin lines others are three to five millimeters wide. It has what it looks like to be numbers and letters bellow it.

"What tattoo?" It's time she starts giving us answers.

Jiro slaps her.

He is not particular to hitting women. Among Blood Suckers, there is no difference, though. Not for us.

It's because of that, that it surprises me to hear a gasp behind me. I turn slightly. Tomoyo keeps her cool. Rika is unnervingly still, even for her. Shock crosses Meiling's face, it was her. It's gone before I fully turn towards her and confirm it, as if it hadn't been there in the first place. But, it was.

"What the fuck does your damn fucking tattoo mean?"

The girl makes her way back to staring at Jiro. She stops midway, though. With a gasp Jiro backs up a step. We all tense and immediately move towards him to see what's going on, a hand on our guns. Everything seems okay from here, though.

At first, we are all confused; not seeing what got such response from Jiro.

I follow his gaze. He is staring down at the girl –cross, shock written on his face.

I'm not the only one to do so, to follow his gaze, that is. There is a gasp. This time is Tomoyo.

The girl is not staring back at Jiro. Instead, her eyes are set on his chest. But she isn't _looking _at his chest, either.

There is some weird thing going on with her eyes. It seems as if there was a jigsaw lying on emerald pools. The pieces keep on changing, changing colors, or they just are different colors. They flicker, the puzzles or her eyes... green, forest green, lime, sea green, olive... Until they come to a halt. Her emerald pools are back.

"The code bar?" Her soft voice irks the silence that had gathered in the room.

"What does it mean?" There is no more menace in Jiro's voice. It comes out quiet, actually.

"I don't know."

Before anyone can remember to give her a _comeback_, it happens again.

No, this time is different. So different, and yet the same.

Fine lines gather in the middle of her forehead, in a petite frown.

Her eyes, the emeralds chant: _What does it mean? What does it mean? _Over and over again. As if she were asking us, or herself out loud. But it's those emeralds of hers that are speaking, uh, _thinking _or…_ repeating_?

It abruptly stops.

We're expectant for her next words. We know she's gotten the answer. She'll tell us. That's why we wait, patiently.

Her eyes widen, and then soften in a far away gaze. "Kinomoto," a faint smile appears on her face. "It means-" her voice is a low murmur. "-Kino…" With that far away smile still on her face, she faints.

Jiro is immediately at her side, taking off the ropes that tie her to the chair.

"What did she say?" I turn around to find a shocked Yue at the door.

It starts sinking. _Kinomoto._ The girl said _Kinomoto_. Why? What does she know about them? What does she have to do with them? With _Them _of all people?

Jiro makes his way to the door. I doubt he even realizes what he's doing. No one stops him. Too shocked with a simple name, we all stay put. Even Yue. Actually, Yue moves to let him pass.

Silence gathers around us once more. But, this time, there is nothing to break it. No one makes an attempt to do so. We just stand there. Not knowing what to do. Not knowing what to think.

Who is she? What do we know about her? Nothing. We found her, we captured her, we brought her here, and we tortured her. She didn't give us anything. Not a name, not an address –those bastards hideout- not even what she took from us.

When she finally does give us something, it's Kinomoto. A surname, a family name, a name that we all know way too well. Who doesn't know the name in this gang?

The real question should be: Who knows the name _outside_?

We stay like that for what it seems to be hours, but really, it's only been a few minutes. Fifteen minutes of just standing there; frozen in our spots.

An alarm goes off throughout the mansion, though. It's not the alert of unwanted visitors, or injured ones inside. For each situation, the alarm calls out a name or a code word –courtesy of our Gadget Bitch. It's a shriek, the sound that's coming from all over the mansion.

We look at each other, sharing a single thought: _What's going on?_

We won't find out by standing here. We run out of the room and head up stairs. We are in the basement, and in the furthest room. By the time we are at the stairs leading to the ground floor, the alarm has quieted down.

Midway, Sora –a gray wolf- meets us. Breathless, she says, "Infirmary."

Fuck. The infirmary is on the far opposite side of the mansion. Jiro is a fast runner. One of the fastest person that I know. In high school, he used to be in the track team. He headed to the infirmary... with the girl in arms.

I pick up my pace. Faster, faster, have to be there_ now. _I'm there in no time. The guys are right behind me, and so are the girls.

The lights flicker on and off in the infirmary. Wei is attending the girl. She is still out. Jiro stands near them. All but the lights seem okay.

"Major damage: left shoulder." A computerized voice says over the speakers. It's only heard in the infirmary, though. Wei nods and proceeds to attend to it while asking Jiro for assistance. Neither one of them seem to notice us nor the flickering lights, for that matter.

They just follow the _computer's_ commands –because that's what they are. Wei the computer's, Jiro Wei's.

Naoko never mentioned a new program for the infirmary's computer. The alert's voice has recently been added. And it only has some standardized words options. Eriol's face tells me he doesn't know either. If Eriol doesn't know, I doubt the others will.

Naoko isn't called Gadget Bitch for nothing. She has come up with some amazing gear. The set up in here is one of them. It helps when our doctors are tending to their social lives. It provides a general idea of the damage/s, runs up what to do and what not, to take care of them. The instructions _appear_ on the screen, they aren't spoken. It works with a scanner in order to assess the damage/s; and with electricity, too.

It takes a while but, finally, they are done picking the girl up. The _voice_ made sure that every single bullet burn was taken care of. The girl was only shot, we didn't use any other _method;_ it was too early. Normally, the burns do the work with them; that's how coward they are…

The lights turn out, entirely. All over the mansion it's heard a communal gasp. The computer starts powering up. A colorful rainbow-bar appears on the monitor. So much for getting started. The bar is quite similar to the girl's but it has wider bars and, instead of letters or numbers –whatever- there is yet another bar, a horizontal one. The girl's all black, too. Below the horizontal bar there has a countdown going on.

When it reaches cero, it starts all over again. "Identifying device," announces the computer as it goes on about the countdown.

"What's going on here?" Naoko stands at the entrance of the infirmary, hands crossed at her chest and eyebrows furrowed.

The computer _recognizes_ her voice, another first. "Yanagizawa Naoko," it calls. Showing a window with voice recognition, it repeats Naoko's query. "Downloading file."

Indeed, it starts downloading a file. Once the file is available, it opens it up. A picture of Naoko between five and eight years old is beside the file. It has detailed information about Naoko until she was six; from her birthday parties and Christmas day to her training lessons, her every developments until the frame time. _Everything_.

The last entry of the file is of her sixth years of age and it goes back until she is in her mother's womb. It even has a picture of her mother and her _as one_.

At this picture, it zooms over her mother's face. "Yanagizawa Naomi," again it starts downloading the file, using once again Naoko's voice as password. For this file too, it has every single detail of Mrs. Yanagizawa's life until her death. It even has who killed her, why, and how. It's a bigger file than Naoko's and it has pictures, too.

A group-picture of fifteen or twenty people is centered. I recognize every person in it. It zooms over every single face and calls their names. It starts downloading a file for each and one of those in the picture that are, _were_ related to Naoko. Some are bigger than the others –the files.

Once it has gone over their files, it stops. It went for far longer than just Naoko's relatives. These files also had pictures and with pictures more and more files. It opened most of the files, leaving only a few.

It blinked, the screen, with the unopened files for a few times. Nothing more happened for a couple more minutes; then it went back to _identifying device_. To the countdown.

There is a small cough, barely audible. The girl. Wei moves towards her and takes the breather-?- off of her.

"It's okay, honey." Wei reassures her.

The countdown on the screen stops again. There is an intake of breath. The computer repeats Wei's voice drowning the girl's raspy, almost inaudible _light. _A file appears on the screen, "Doctor Wei," it starts downloading it.

I watch the girl's reaction to it –she's staring at the screen- but there isn't any. She falls asleep again.

The file not only is about Wei but his patients too, every single one of them. It's detailed too, their injuries and what not, of people that I don't even know. There is also enlisted information of patients in his outer life. All up to about ten years ago.

It opens up some other files of people that I vaguely recognize their names. It starts going faster about their files, barely stopping for more than a minute at each one…

Some files aren't downloaded. These names I recognize, they are or were big-shots in the gang. Some are still alive, others aren't. There is also a file with my name and Eriol's, and about everyone in the room minus Jiro's.

We all stay quiet, knowing that it will only open files that we most likely don't want to see. Not me, not Eriol, not Tomoyo, and definitely not Meiling.

It asks for passwords, after waiting for a minute or two it goes back to the countdown. We watch frozen in our spots as it reaches the one-digit count. It actually goes slower, taking more than a second for each number it feels.

There is movement on the bed. The girl. Wei rushes to her, and push her back on the bed. "Sweetie, you still have to rest. Lay down." Wei's voice is soothing father-like as always. She turns to him and obeys.

Lying back still, she shuts her eyes close, opens them again. In the dim lit room her pools are unfocused. Wei presses his hand on her forehead, and looks her over. The computer has stopped its count down at _4_, waiting it seems…

"Hungry," albeit raspy is as soft as it was hours ago. It's clear too.

The computer runs it again; completely disregarding the countdown. It had still been there as it downloaded the other files. _"Hungry."_ Various windows pop on the screen. "Password required." It flashes a window to enter the password. It repeats the query, over and over, the box flashing.

"It can't possibly have a file of her," Yue reasons.

Another window pops up, _No-last-name Yue_, it runs his voice again, and asks for a password. The same box from before.

"How come yours needs a password?" Excitement betrays her sulkytone. She likes cracking systems, just like the Genius Boy, that's Naoko…

The window with her files pops up, it requires a password now. We all look at each other. The computer almost going insane, making us go insane, as it repeats its query.

"Honey?" We look at Wei, who's turned to address the girl. Her eyes are still unfocused, she barely moves. "What's your name?" In the background the computer runs it as a password, comes with nothing.

Wei nudges her to get her attention. "Excuse me?" It's barely audible over the computer. The computer shuts up, though.

"What's your name, Sweetheart?"

"Sakura-" She swallows, "-Kinomoto Sakura."

It's hard to decide what is more shocking, her declaration to be a Kinomoto, or that the computer's password is actually _Kinomoto Sakura…_

The screen starts downloading a file in my peripheral vision. My gaze focused on her, _the Kinomoto girl_. Or so she claims.

The room is barely lit; still my eyes have gotten accustomed to it. I'm the closest to the girl right behind Wei. Her eyes do the same thing as before. The puzzle…

She jolts upright, fear reeking from her every pore… You can almost smell it.

"What are you doing? Lay down." Wei tells her, gently pushing her back. It doesn't have the same soothing effect as before on her.

"No." She fights, putting up a petty fight. She is weak and in pain, I bet.

Pressing harder on her, Wei orders "Turn the lights on."

She stops struggling. Her eyes adjusting, looks around. Her eyes settled in a light tone, they start darkening as she sweeps the room with them. Doesn't really stop at any of us; recognizing us or anything. Finally, at the light switch, her wondering eyes stop. Grass green.

It makes itself visible on her eyes first. The recognition of Jiro, wavering sea green. Her breathing hastens, her hands ball into fists over the cover, trembling. Panic.

Her emerald orbs un-focus, loosing notches of green as her eyes slowly close.

Wei catches her frail body, places her back on the bed. It must have been a big dose to take effect so fast… Wei shakes his head, but doesn't look up. I know him too well, and for far too long to need to see his disapproval.

And to think the day hasn't ended just yet…

The computer seems to have more to say… or deliver. Information that I'm certain we don't want to know. It has opened all our files. All the files that this _device _contains…

**\o~O~o/**

**Haven't edited this one, sorry. I'll do it once I'm back to it. I'll be updating the next chapter soon, maybe today, but I still have to edit both, this and the next chapter, chapter three. I'll try to explain this chapter the best I can…**

**The computer is like an artificial intelligence. Not really, but **_**like**_** one. It was programmed to –like it's said above- give them instructions on how to nurse their injuries. It works with a scanner, and the instructions appear in a monitor that is in the room. That's all it does. **

**It is because of a chip that Sakura has on her back –where the tattoo is, to be more precise- that the computer installed in the infirmary adopts a more advanced, err, program –you could say- That gives more detailed instructions on how to attend her, Sakura, because she like its drive… I think I'll explain better, or it will be clearer in later chapters I promise to explain later on. If not, then I'll clear it our when I edit this chapter… that's it for the time being. Don't want to spoil later chapters… hehe**

**Loves…**


	4. A Green World

**"C0d3d"**

**~O~**

**Eriol Hiragizawa**

Yesterday doesn't seem real.

I head to Yue's office. The hallways are deserted in the mansion, and with reason. It's only four in the morning. Not even the sun has come out.

The girl has awoken.

Doesn't she know that people need, in the very least, eight hours of sleep? If it weren't for her calling the name Kinomoto out and claiming to be one herself, she would be dead already. After all, she wasn't saying anything.

She still has to answer some questions. We won't be using the same methods, though.

Meiling isn't doing well. Yesterday affected her quite bad. She doesn't believe the girl has anything to do with those fucking Blood Suckers. She better not. It would be way too fucked up if the last living Kinomoto were to be an ally of those fuckers. Meiling isn't the only one to have taken things badly either. There is Jiro who is somehow blaming himself. Something about her eyes…

Her eyes. That's true. It was bizarre. Talk about eyes being windows to a person's soul. I never saw that one coming. But it only happened at the end. I wonder why… Jiro seems to believe that her eyes were blank –just green, or lacked of creepiness- because she knew nothing.

The meeting in Yue's office is short. It only covers the questions we will do. Jiro should stay at the door; we don't want to scare the poor girl more than she already is. We are also hoping she doesn't remember, or didn't see anyone other than Jiro. Yue will do the questioning, which is a first. Xiao Lang should stay at the door, too. Everyone chuckled at that. Couldn't fathom why…

…

Yue nocks at the door. It's ajar but we don't want to _impose_ our presence_._ Not that she really has an option.

Wei stands by her side, taking a tray of food away and leaving another one. You would think we haven't fed her for weeks. She wakes up and first thing she thinks and says is _hungry_. Has this girl been famine? Before coming here, that is. We've only had her for less than fifty hours. And only twenty of those was she deprived of food.

"Thank you." She smiles politely at Wei. The tray has eggs, beans, cheese, and bread. There is also a glass of orange juice and one half-way-empty glass of milk. The milk was already there, from her previous tray of food. On the side there is also some fruit; an apple, a grapefruit, and a kiwi. _My_ kiwi.

She takes a bit of it, my kiwi, and places it back on the tray. This time, though, behind the orange juice. Bitch. I look up at her; she is staring back at me. The _bitch._ They are set in a cautious gaze, her orbs that is, as if I'll take it.

Her eyes widen, ever so slightly.

To hell with our hopes of her not remembering or knowing us. A quick survey, taking in all our faces, and she recognizes every single one of us; even Yue. We didn't bring anyone who hadn't been there yesterday. _Now_ does that seem a fucking mistake?

She looks at the retreating back of Wei, and for a second we wait for her to call him. She doesn't.

"Sakura, wasn't it?" Yue stops at a fair distance from the bed. We all stay, albeit scattered, behind trying not to appear as a threat.

It doesn't seem to work. She still looks afraid and wary. She nods, swallows, and says, "Kinomoto for you." Or that's what I thought she was going to say. Instead, "Yes sir, that's right," comes out in that same soft voice from yesterday.

It's not fear what drives the choice of words but mere politeness.

Yue studies her for a second, trying to find something, but what? "I need you to answer some questions for me."

A mere statement brought back in its fullness the fear that had appeared when she first awoke. And, like yesterday –somehow, not- it was as if she was telling us what had gone on when torturing her. As if we hadn't been there. It's like a movie with frozen images. Every detail seems to be there…

Yue does a good job ignoring it, even though it's the first time he really sees it. "Who are your parents?"

She notices it's the first time she's been asked this; which gives away that she was aware that the questions were the same last time. The answers make themselves present in her eyes before she voices it. Not the names but the knowledge… "Kinomoto Fujitaka and Amimaya Nadeshico."

"Where are they?"

Again, first her eyes… "6525 Garden heights…" She gives a full address. It doesn't matter, this is her first mistake.

"How often do you see them?" The address she's given isn't the same of where she resides, but then again, we didn't find that much about her, and she is obviously lying.

"I don't."

"And why is that?"

The girl tiltsher head slightly confused of what it seems to such an obvious answer, "Why should I?-" 'Garden heights' where have I …? "-No matter how many times I go it won't bring them back…" _Garden heights, a paradise for the dead_; it's a graveyard.

Yue nods taking the information in. "Who do you live with, then?"

The answer is there, in her eyes, but she doesn't voice it. Instead, she measures Yue, wary and cautious of his intentions, for a minute or so. "Why do you ask?"

The fear is still there in her eyes. She is aware of all of us surrounding her. Wei is no longer here to reassure her –he might be of help right now, though. The air is filled with this tension feel that no one could possibly ignore of. Still, she's capable of showing some guts, or maybe it's just stupidity.

I'll go for guts. Have to give her some credit after all that has happened.

Leaning on the wall at the end of the bed, I study her profile for the first time. That we know nothing of her is my fault. I'm the one who gathers information. It suddenly feels like I made a huge mistake. Traces of Lady Nadeshico are visible on the girl; the petite frame, porcelain-like skin, her nose… but most of all how she holds herself, so delicate and graceful.

Maybe I'm just making it all up. Nonetheless, I can see Mr. Fujitaka in her, too: courage, compassion, calmness, that calmness that always accompanied him anywhere, anyhow. Even in pain, she doesn't break down; she _didn't_ break down, and now in fear…

"Never mind." The girl narrows her petite eyebrows but doesn't pursue the issue. "Why did you break into our system?" So much for waiting to make that question…

Her eyes are blank once more, like normal eyes should be. "Break in where?" Remembering how her answers affected her last time, she is cautious as she asks. She even bits her lower lip expecting a _comeback._ Yue notices.

"What did you do one week from the day you were abducted?"

I'm surprised he mentioned it. It was a good decision it would seem. Still cautious, she looks at Yue, sizing him once more. She appears more comfortable, scare but comfortable now. Guess she is the type of girl who prefers to acknowledge the truth and not ignore it. Smart, not that we didn't know she was already.

She goes into thinking mode, a still film that we can't completely decipher. It is very brief. "Well, I woke up kind of early," she starts tentatively. Directing a look at Yue, she continues, "It was still ten,-" That's early? "- ten fifty-eight." she is kidding right? She nods to herself. Once more she looks at Yue.

"Go on." He prompts.

She nods again. "Woke up, lingered a little bit in bed until eleven thirty, and got up.-" Her eyes are forest green right now. Stored with information? It seems like that. It lowers a notch every time she voices something. Like she is downloading the information. "- I had breakfast-" Even in the dark forest green hue, her eyes lit up at the memory of food. "- scrambled eggs, French toast, fruit, blueberry pancake…" As if to make a point, her stomach growls. No, as if she hadn't just been eating!

She must've had brunch, her list of food just keeps on going "…I locked myself up in my room, went online,-" We instinctively tense, but she doesn't notice… Her eyes lit up again… "- went down for lunch after one…" She goes on about what she had for lunch, a list as long as the breakfast one. Her stomach growls, _again_. She takes a bit of _my _kiwi and goes on with her list.

Interesting enough, she doesn't mention where this food came out of, or more like, who made it. Did she? It doesn't seem so, not in her frame of time, and what she says to have been doing.

"Locked myself again, read a book-" By her tone, I would say she finished it. "- went on line again. I stayed awhile longer this time. I got hooked up in games." Her eyes betray her off handed tone. They seem embarrass to admit this. But remorsefulness overpowers the embarrassment. "I didn't get to finish one, though…" Misinterpreting Yue's questioning look, and not giving him time to voice his question, she continues, "My internet time is limited.-" An impish smile plays on her lips. "- Too caught up, I forgot to extend it…" She leaves hanging there as she plays with her fingers. Like a child caught in the act.

We are quiet for awhile, assimilating, processing her words…

… She was going to _extend_ her time, how…? Do I really not know? Come on! She hacked into our system, how was she going to extend her time? Three guesses, only one counts.

"What games did you play? There was more than one, you said?" I think we should be getting to the interesting questions. The ones that we want to know, need to know. Not social questions. She already had her way with the food talk. Unless…

"Yes, there were two." Very frail lines gather at her forehead. Is that a _frown_? She's trying to remember. Her eyes do their job on keeping us in the know of things going on in that head of hers. "Well… they were informative games…?" It comes like a question at the very end. Her eyes are in an undefined green, flickering between emerald and jade. Confused.

She sights, orbs back to their normal hue. "You could say they were informative-skill-challenging games." She nods satisfied with herself albeit a tiny winy hue of jade still resides in her orbs, still confused. "One easy and the other normal, mind you. I think it was, you know like the preview of the real thing? The easy one I mean." Her stare was lost in memory, different tones playing about her eyes. "The Lusted Game." She seems uncomfortable; her orbs go a lighter, undefined shade of green.

"The Lusted Game?" Yue presses, up to something.

"Well…" -she fumbles with the cover- "it was kind of pornographic." It's not that she is uncomfortable, it seems, but confused and disturbed -her eyes are unfocused. "And well, _brutal." _The word comes out strange, strangled.

Those petite lines are set on her forehead again as she looks up at Yue. She shudders delicately -just like lady Nadeshico would have done- and dismissed the memory clearing her orbs once more. Maybe 'the orbs clearing' wasn't something lady Nadeshico would have done, but all else yes.

"It wasn't easy-easy," -she finds the need to correct herself for some reason- "it just wasn't _that_ much mind-challenging. Just not mind-challenging at all. Weird, yes."

She nods to herself deciding that weird is the best way to describe it -apparently dismissing _brutal_- looks back at Yue, and waits.

Let's get something clear, looking up or at doesn't exactly really mean _looking _with her; looking back seems more like it, as in actually _looking._ Geez, I never thought I would have such a hard time defining a word…

"The other game…?" Yue seems a tad bit distracted, but emeralds were already expecting this question.

Taking a breath, she no longer stares _at_ Yue but just _stares._ "The Wolves' Den."

The name rings no bell to me. A look at Naoko has me holding my breath, though. Beside her at the door, Xiao Lang stands rigidly, he too, getting it. It downs… _the Wolves' Den _as in _Werewolves'? _Ours?

In front of her, Yue makes no acknowledge of comprehension. Coolly, he prompts her to go on. Not that she is staring at him.

I look back at Naoko, a rather offended expression is on her face. It's almost comical. I wonder why… The Lusted Game was easy, that is what the girl said. The _other _game was normal. Just plain normal. I should feel offended too -it is after all our system she's talking about- but I just manage to suppress the laughter.

"Well, it was mind-challenging." She states as a compliment.

"But not _that _much?" It's Naoko, go figure, who asks quite strangled.

The girl is startled out of her little green world. Turning around, she locks gaze with Naoko. Getting lost in the girls little green world, Naoko just stares back at her. "It was hard; it just wasn't world-wide hard." As if sensing it would be dangerous to just say easy, she delivers it quite nicely, mind you.

"Oh." Naoko nods, and that's all.

She no longer has that offended look on her. She should _still_ be, but she isn't.

"And what did you do? Did you download something? What?" Xiao Lang's hard, albeit low, threatening voice -that's only his voice and it's his normal tone, mind you- scares the hell of the child.

Her head snaps in Xiao Lang's direction, water-like pools of muddy green. Fear. "I didn't download anything," calm, no amount of fear leaking through. She obviously caught on that Xiao Lang was expecting an explanation because she continued, "There was a link, I clicked on it, started playing." She takes in a deep breath, eyes closed. "There were a few, um, obstacles." She nods in that same satisfied manner from before, "Got access into the different stages, got in, through, and on my way out." She sights, her eyes no longer staring _at_ but back into her little green world of different hues. "It froze the game. I was timed out."

She finally looks back at Xiao Lang, a little of that fear making itself present once more. They clear out, unto an olive green, widen. And we wait until she voices out whatever it is that she discovered, found out, or remembered. "_Get _in-" she turns those Olive orbs back the Yue. "-as in _Break _in? as in…?" She shuts up, gulps.

Biting her lower lip cautiously and wary again, she waits expectant…

…

She isn't a Sucker, we have concluded in a none-verbalized manner by the end of the day. She didn't take anything either. We didn't have to keep going with the interrogation. She didn't say anything else after her little realization, not in her defense. She was just playing and that was the only truth there was. She apologized, that she did do.

…

We lay down on our bed, Tomoyo's back to me. Feigning to be asleep. Having too much in mind, I'll figure no one is sleeping tonight.

The day was a long one; starting it with the girl waking up so early. For someone to consider 10 to be early, she didn't go back to sleep afterwards. She did eat, though, all three times double servings. Wei lent her a book that kept her occupied half a day, she finished it. A computer was offered to her, too, but she declined it claiming to have a headache. Instead, she took a deck of cards to play Solitaire and FreeCell throughout the rest of the day…

That fourteen-year-old _is_ a Kinomoto. Wei proved it with a DNA test; the perks of having a mini hospital at home with all the equipment available in stores and not. We'll be taking her home tomorrow. She knows very little from us so we don't have to worry about that, unless she starts looking us up. We will keep her in close watch just for safety.

We were never ones to trust easily.

**\o~O~o/**

**I'm leaving this chapter as it is for the time being. I will be coming back to it to patch it up, I promise. Just give me some time. I don't think this one is brainer but I might be wrong or just lazy –I'm back at my country with family and friends for the holydays and jus having the time of my life. I am apologizing if it has taken way too long to post this, sorry! I've had this chapter done for quite some time now, I just hadn't gotten into it to finish it or just post it. I'm sorry. I hope you enjoy it…**

**Tell me what you think. Quite early already but I kind of need help! I know how I want it to go but not how to write the next chapter… I do know that from now on it won't be or might not only be an only one person's point of view, but that's all. So, mercy!**

**Loves…**


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